The cyclone, which killed tens of thousands of people, displaced many more earlier and rendered many roads and bridges impassable, struck this month as paddy farmers were harvesting the dry season crop that accounts for 20 per cent of annual production, said the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation.

The destruction could reduce access to food and may force Myanmar to seek imports from neighboring countries, such as Thailand and Vietnam, putting further pressure on world prices, it said.

Myanmar has previously been self-sufficient and an exporter of rice.

The devastation also could negatively impact global rice production, the FAO said. The agency currently is forecasting a new record of 666 million tonnes worldwide this year, a global increase of 2.3 per cent.

Production in Asia is expected to rise to 605 million tonnes from 600 million tons, with particularly large increases in Bangladesh, China, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, the FAO said.

African production is forecast to grow nearly 4 per cent to 23.2 million tons and in Latin America by 7.4 per cent to 26 million tonnes, the agency said.

Rice production is expected to be down in Australia, the United States and Europe.

Rice prices skyrocketed by 76 per cent from December to April, triggered in part by export restrictions in countries worried about food scarcity. The FAO said prices are expected to remain high. -- AP